Skarg continued advising Slav, saying, "His identity as a previous slave doesn’t matter for your defeat. Your defeat is embarrassing on its own, but the fact that he was a previous slave doesn’t matter because he is a cultivator now, not a slave, and because your victory over him wouldn’t have counted if his identity as a slave mattered. After all, how could you be proud of defeating a slave?"
"What matters is that you’re just 15 years old, you’re inexperienced in fighting, and the fact that cultivators of the Money Pathway aren’t suited for fighting directly in a constrained arena. So you had many handicaps that led to your defeat."
"As for your opponent, I will admit that I’ve underestimated him. But you don’t have to worry anymore about him. He is doomed."
Slav didn’t understand how Loki was doomed, so he asked, "How come? Didn’t he just defeat me and win the competition? Is there something wrong with the reward for the competition?"
Sophia chuckled and grabbed Slav’s cheek and tugged on it as she said, "So innocent. How cute."
Slav slapped his sister’s hands away and said, "I’m serious. I’m not a child anymore."
His defiance only made Sophia laugh. She even wanted to tug on his cheek harder than before. Serge saw this and decided to come to his junior brother’s rescue.
So Serge said, "Don’t mind, eldest sister. She is only teasing you because she sees herself in you. She, too, doesn’t know why the slave is doomed."
His words earned him a punch from Sophia. He dodged the attack at the last moment because he had been expecting it.
Sophia saw that her attack had failed, so she snorted and said, "Maybe you don’t know, but I know. It is all because of that zombie freak."
This confused Slav even more. His brows furrowed as he said, "The leader of the Death Claw society will attack Loki? But didn’t he just support Loki?"
As he asked these questions, he realized what the problem was. So he slapped his forehead in reproach and said, "Of course. That’s it. He is the leader of the Death Claw society."
Sophia smiled and said, "Exactly. Who says our Slav isn’t smart?"
Skarg interjected from his position at the front of the group, saying, "Death’s envoy has taken a liking to that Loki boy. There can only be one reason for that, which means that the Loki boy can not have a good ending."
Then he said, "You four are different from someone like Loki. You have the room to make mistakes and the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and grow stronger from them."
"He, on the other hand, cannot make a single mistake. Even if he does well and doesn’t make a single mistake, he will still attract problems that will capsize his fate."
"Nothing he can do will ever be right. If he tries to avoid trouble by giving up and forfeiting, trouble will find its way to him. If he does well and wins a competition, trouble will come to him even faster."
"At the end of the day, he will be doomed to be used as raw materials for someone else. That is to be his fate."
"You four have this privilege because your grandfather and I worked hard to get it for you. So you have no reason to be ashamed. In fact, you should be proud of yourself."
The more he heard his father’s words, the more his head swelled with pride. His previous despondent mood was swept away by a sense of superiority.
When he thought of Loki, he couldn’t help but laugh. His elder siblings also laughed with him. This made them look like a happy and united family.
They were truly happy and united. But their happiness came at a great cost to others.
One look at the cultivators surrounding them would reveal those who are paying the price for their happiness. The unsmiling faces and unfocused eyes of these cultivators are just the signs of what price they paid for the Rein family to be rich and powerful.
Meanwhile, back at the arena. Loki won the competition and was given 5,000 energy stones. Craig came second and was given 2,000 energy stones. As for Lillian, she came in third and was given 1,000 energy stones.
Someone mentioned that Slav should be given the reward of second place since he beat Craig, but the leaders of the societies refused to give Slav anything, and Bloodhound refused to let Craig take third place.
This matter didn’t lead to any argument whatsoever. Everyone just unanimously agreed to exclude Slav and the Viking Blade Society from any more benefits.
When this matter was brought up, Loki scoffed and said, "Why bother giving Slav some money? It is not like he will appreciate it."
"He was spending money lavishly early to fight and giving it away to win fights. Despite how much he spent in our fight, I am willing to bet that he didn’t bother to calculate how much he might have spent in that fight. He is that filthy rich."
It goes without saying that he doesn’t support Slav getting any reward. So it was a good thing for him that everyone else also agreed not to give the prodigal son even more money.
After the rewards were distributed, it was time for the competitors to pick their societies. Everyone, except the people who signed contracts with Slav, picked a society to join.
Craig followed the Bloodhound and the society he was leading, the Bleeding Edge Society. Lillian joined a society of her choice, while Loki was half forced to join the Death Claw Society led by the zombie.
Loki wanted to join the Death Claw Society because the leader had promised to protect him. But he didn’t have a choice in the matter because he had to join the Death Claw Society or risk offending their zombie leader after everything the leader did to help him.